Meanings in babies relationships with their peers

Author(s)

Carolina Alexandre Costa

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2012-03-09

Examining board members

Katia de Souza Amorim; Monica de Fátima Batista Correia; Maria Clotilde Therezinha Rossetti Ferreira

• Advisor: Katia de Souza Amorim

Abstract

For a long time, interactions between babies and their peers were not acknowledged in the Developmental Psychology field. However, during the last three decades, this scenario has undergone major changes, particularly by the advances in the field that have recognized infants\' capabilities and communication skills. Thus, the baby has been understood as active in social interactions with others, communicating by means of their specific and available resources. However, it was interrogated whether, in these relations, the infant and his/her baby partner could assign and/ or build / apprehend / express meanings regarding their own actions, of the other and the situations. Thus, from a multiple case study it was aimed to investigate whether the process of meanings occurs during the first year of life, within babies\' relationships with their peers. Yet, if we positively identify its occurrence, the goal was to investigate how this meanings process happens. Empirical data was constructed through DVD recordings, related to a three months follow up of babies\' attendance at a daycare center in a municipality of the state of São Paulo. Four infants were randomly selected as pivots and they are: Catarina (5 months), Priscila (7 months), Daiane (10 months) and Marcos (11 months), the ages corresponding to the beginning of the recordings. From the Image Bank, every scene in which the subjects appeared was selected, making four blocks of edited images, preserving the chronological order of events. The corpus was built through the microgenetic transcription of three interactive episodes selected from each subjects. Analysis of the scenes was microgenetic, based on the Network of Meanings perspective. Data analysis indicates positively the occurrence of meanings during the first year of life, even in the very young babies (four months). Such occurrence, however, expressed though diferente ways when considering the chronological age of the babies and the babies\' own characteristics. These were regarding to the children\' life history (even though, beng short), established relationships with several others and himself / herself, in different contexts. During the first months, it was verified that meaning were present within concrete actions and situations (stomping attracts the partner attention), as well as the experiences of the babies\' self related to the environment (look at the world through the plastic bottle). In later months, meanings were already marked by cultural meanings of the social group, expressed / apprehended through gestures, expressions, tone of babbling, anticipation of intentionality apprehended by the eye. In such cases, the meanings of self, others and situations have been (re)(de)(co)constructed through a series of negotiations that put the babies in different social roles, which allowed them to grasp new meanings which were appropriated. It should be noted that there is a great interest of the baby for the another baby, mobilizing, (re)acting and experiencing new and old actions with peers. The survey also points out that language can be understood beyond the verbal sense, covering communication, interaction, body, expressivity and actions taken by the baby, recognizing him / her as an actor, author and subject in relations with other social partners. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 09/06739-2 - Meanings abreviation, within peer babies' relations
• Grantee: Carolina Alexandre Costa
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master